Backing shoe holder for spiral pipe



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lllllllllllll IlllllIl Original Filed Feb. 17, 1948 Jan. 2, 1951 INVENTOR. clbNnrHAN-IFOY @5525,

ATTORNEYS.

J. R. FREEZE Re. 23,316

BACKING SHOE HOLDER FOR SPIRAL PIPE MACHINES Jan. 2, 1951 3 Sheets-$heet 2 Original Filed Feb. 17, 1948 w MN Jan. 2, 1951 J. R. FREEZE BACKING SHOE HOLDER FOR SPIRAL PIPE MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Feb. 17, 1948 INVENTOR. r/Zw4 ran for Fkzszz.

BY 2 E ATTORNEYS.

Reisaued Jan. 2, 1951 BACKING SHOE HOLDER FOR SPIRAL PIPE MACHINES Jonathan Roy Freeze, Middletown, Ohio, assignor to Armco Steel Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Original No. 2501,845, dated March 28, 1950, Se-

rial No. 8,758, February 1'7, 1948. Application for reissue September 21, 1950, Serial No.

4 Claims. (oi. 2196) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets I: appears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue This invention relates to a machine for making spiral welded pipe from flat rolled metal, and more especially to [an electrode1 a. backing shoe holder therefor and to its associated mechanisms. The details of the machine and method are disclosed and claimed in a copending application in my name, Serial No. 101,883, filed June 28, 1949, and tconstituting a division of the present applicaion.

Spiral welded pipe has been made from flat rolled metal for a number of years and such pipe has been more or less commercially successful. For example, pipe has been made commercially for many years in accordance with the teachings of my earlier Patents Nos. 1,793,281 and 1,793,282, dated February 17, 1931, but the manufacture of pipe in accordance with the principles therein set forth has always been attended by a great many difficulties.

It is an object of my invention to provide [an electrode'l a backing shoe holder for a machine of the class described, which holder is conveniently adjustable longitudinally of its support, and which may also be conveniently adjusted by tilting the front or rear end thereof. Another object of my invention involves the provision of means whereby the adjustments mentioned above may be performed easily even though stock is wound around the bending knee during the formation of pipe, whereby the [electrode] backing shoe holder itself is inaccessible.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention which will be discussed in more detail hereinafter, or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, are accomplished by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which the following is an exemplary embodiment. Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the machine with parts broken away and other parts removed for clearer understanding.

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view showing details of the bending knee and the [electrodel backing shoe holder.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3 and slightly enlarged.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Throughout these specifications I have used the ,word stock" to designate the flat rolled metal which is formed into a helix and welded to produce the finished pipe.

The general layout of the machine and the relation of the ljelectrode' backing shoe holder thereto, are best seen in Figure 1.

Passing between a pair of edge guide rollers I! the stock passes through the driving roll unit indicated generally at Hi. It is the unit 18 which thrusts the stock into the forming mechanism where it is formed into a helix.

When the stock issues from the driving unit [8 it is moving in a. substantially horizontal plane and in order to enter the forming mechanism it must ride up an inclined plane as indicated at Illa. fixed bending knee indicated generally at [9 and the heel roller and buttress roller 2|. The .stock passes over the knee I9 and under the rolls 2!] and 2!. Since the stock enters the forming mechanism at an angle, the forming means bends the stock to form it into a helix, and as a convolution is formed its rear edge comes to a position adjacent the forward edge of the entering stock, and substantially at this point the 'weld is made.

The portion of the machine thus far described, is mounted on a frame indicated generally at 22, which frame is provided with casters (not shown) riding on the curved tracks 24, and the entire unit and the frame 22 is swung about the pivot point 25 to produce the desired helical angle. This is accomplished by means of a motor 2% driving the screw 21 through the gear reducer 28. The screw 21 engages to a nut 29 which is a part of the swingable frame. The motor, gear reducer and screw are mounted upon a bracket 30 which is pivoted at 3|, and it will be clear that the motor 26 in turning will cause the feed unit to be moved in an arcuate path about the pivot point 25.

Having thus described in a more or less general way the machine as a whole, certain individual features thereof will now be described in more detail. As was pointed out above, the stock in passing from the driving rolls Hi, to the forming mechanism, moves over the inclined plate [0a. The bite between the heel roll 20 and the bending knee I9 is not parallel to the bite between rolls 18. Both of these bites are, however, in horizontal planes, so that normally the stock between the rolls l8 and the forming mechanism would have to be twisted. This difficulty is avoided as follows: the inclined plate 10a is secured adjacent to the bending knee l9 and its lower edge ltb is parallel to the axis of the bending knee. It overlies the horizontal plate or table lflc over which the strip is fed from the driving mechanism l8. passes over two plane surfaces Ilia and file,

The forming means comprises essentially a The stock thus 3 which are disposed at an angle. toeach other with the'ltnei of intersection of said. planes being parallel to the axis of the forming mechanism.

In order to confine the stock and to cause the;

bend in the stock to occur Substantially as described, a number of hold-downs 32" are provided These hold-downs are of varying length so that their ends lie substantially on the. intersection of the planes described. By these means the. stock is caused to be bent along a line substantially parallel to the axis of the. formingmechanism so that the forming. operation is. accomplished without twisting.

When stock which is initially flat transversely of its length is formed into a helix it is characteristic that the edge of the stock will turn up a small amour-1t inv anv upward direction. so. that.

the welded pipe will. be characterized by an up-- standing swell following along the seam. In order. to. overcome this difficulty I. provide. an edge counterbcnding mechanism. at 3.5,.which is described in detail and claimed in my said" pending application.

The construction of the bending knee will now be described: 7 Generally speaking. the bending; knee I9 is a cylindrical member which at one end is supported by and welded to a side frame. member. Adiacent. its other end (the delivery end) the knee is supported by means of a bracket l'ozhaw Ing,v a. semiecylindri'cal cradle. I03 which has a helical edge IN. The knee is secured to the cradle. by means. of bolts I05. The helical edge I is,. of course, provided to permit the strip to be coiled about the bending knee.

Longitudinally of the. knee at the top. there is a. slot in which. are seated a series of blocks I01 each carrying a small" roller I08. It will be understood that a series of blocks I01 is provided for each helical angle at which the entering stock is to be fed. When. it is desired to change helical angles the entire set of blocks ID! are: removed and another set having rolls at the appropriate angle is' inserted. The rollers IIl'8' support the entering stock as it passes over the bending knee.

'li'h'ev bending knee is also provided with the longitudinal grooves III! whose purposewill be described below. The exit end has a portion of reduced size as indicated at III which serves as a. support for the saddle for the [electrode] backing shoe holder indicated generally at '2.

Passing. through the longitudinal grooves III! are the" tubular members I I3 which are threaded into the saddle member II2 as indicated at H4. The tubes I I3' are connected up by a strap member II5 which is perforated for the passage of the tubes and the tubes are secured in position by lock nuts H6. The strip member II5' has a central perforation II'I for the passage of a sleeve'member II 9 formed with a turret head I 20 The strap member is confined against the turret head "Wh a collar I2I secured to the other end of the sleeve I I9. The sleeve H9 is internally threaded for the passage of the stud IIB secured 'to' the machine frame; From the foregoing description it will be imderst'oo'd that when the turret head I20 is rotated the strap Il5 will be moved to the left or right of Figure 2', carrying with it the tubes "3' and thereby the saddle H2.

The saddle H2 is provided with a recess I22 which the [electrode] backingshoe holder" rests' upon inverted cup shape members I24 placed over the upper ends oi" the helical springs 4 I I25. The lower ends of the springs I25 are retained in cup members I25. Passing? through the tubular members H3 are the rods I21 to the ends of which are secured by means of a universal coupling indicated at I28a the wedge shaped elements I28 which are arranged to underlie the cups I26. At their other ends the rods I21 are threaded as at I29 and engage in the nuts I30 secured to the ends of the tubes II3.

From the foregoing it will be clear that rotation of the rods I 21 will cause the wedge shaped portions I28 to be moved toward the right or left.v of Figure 23, causing the [electrode] backing shoe holder I23 to be raised or lowered. From a. consideration of Figure 2 it will be clear that the construction just described is duplicated for the other end of the [electrode] backing shoe holder so that the front or rear end of the [electrode] backing shoe holder may be raised or lowered as required.

The [electrode], backing shoe holder is. provided with a recess I3I within which the [electrode] backing shoe proper I32 is seated. The [electrode] backing shoe is hollow as at I33 and a flexible water connection indicated generally at I34 is provided for a coolant to pass through the [electrode] backing shoe. and be withdrawn therefrom by a flexible connection I35.

The completed and welded pipe passes out through an exit guide arrangement (not shown) the primary purpose of which is to fix'the exit direction of the pipe to facilitate subsequent handling. In connection with the exit. guide the usual cut-oil device may be provided, if desired.

The actual welding head and its associated mechanisms are not described. in detail as they formno part of the present invention.

Only so much of the complete machine has been described and shown as is necessary to an understanding of the operation ofthe [electrode] backing shoe holder and its adjustments; The details of the machine are fully described and claimed in my said copending application to which reference is hereby made.

While certain aspects of the invention have been described in considerable detail, this has been primarily by way of illustration. Many modifications may be made in details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having now fully described" the invention, what I" claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for making spiral weldedpipe from metal stock, having a bending knee about which said stock is formed into a helixwith substantially meeting stock edges, an extension on the exit end of said bending knee, [an electrode] a backing shoe holding member mounted on said extension for sliding movement axially of said knee, and means extending longitudinally through said knee for positioning said member from the entrance end of said knee.

2 A mechanism according to claim. 1,, in which [an electrode] a backing shoe is mounted in said holding member at an angle to the axis of said knee, the ends of said [electrode] backing shoe being yieldingly supported at its ends, and means are provided for selectively raising or lowering said ends.

3. A mechanism according to claim 2, in which said raising and lowering means comprise. incli'ned planes underlying said ends, and rods passing through said knee for actuating said planes, whereby the position of said [electrode] backing shoe may be controlled from the entrance end of said machine.

4. A mechanism according to claim 3, in which the means extending longitudinally through said knee for positioning said member are hollow, and said rods pass through said hollow means.

JONATHAN ROY FREEZE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent or the original patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 375,435 Alden Dec. 2'7, 1887 781,355 Peavey Jan. 31, 1905 1,018,291 Beadle Feb. 20, 1912 1,288,134 Naylor Dec. 17, 1918 1,649,613 Olson Nov. 15, 1927 Number Number Name Date Thorsby Feb. 21, 1928 Foreman May '7, 1929 Freeze Feb. 17, 1931 Freeze Feb. 17, 1931 Watkins Sept. 15, 1931 Cammen Sept. 6, 1932 Lucas Aug. 15, 1933 Force Oct. 10, 1933 Gardner Dec. 1, 1936 Harford May 3, 1938 Force May 3, 1938 Crowley Jan. 11, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Oct. 10, 1906 Germany July 26, 1902 Germany Oct. 23, 1933 

